Recently, a lovely BNOTP reader emailed to ask if I had any recommendations for bookcases. I haven’t had a lot of experience with buying bookcases, but I did recommend staying away from the Billy bookcase for storing heavy, hardback books since I experienced bowing/sagging shelves with the Billys that I purchased several years ago. It seems like I read a few years back that Ikea had started trying to beef up the shelves a bit, but I’m not sure if that was a rumor or if it really happened.
When I wanted a bookshelf for my guest bedroom, a BNOTP reader mentioned having had great luck with the IKEA Hemnes bookshelf. It’s an all-wood bookcase, or at least it was back a few years ago when I purchased mine.
Mine has held up great, so far, and I have some really heavy hardback books on one shelf, in particular. So far, there’s been no bowing or sagging.
I just noticed this pretty bookshelf at Home Depot. The info about it states that it is “Constructed of premium solid pine wood frame and thickened MDF board, stable and durable; each panel can hold up to 55 lbs.” I’m guessing it’s the shelves that are made of MDF. The fact that they mention that it’s “thickened” MDF makes me think that sagging shelves is a known issue with a lot of bookcases made of MDF. I’m not sure how many books 55 lbs represents, but before purchasing this one, it would probably be a good idea to take a stack of books that you would want to place on a shelf and weigh them to see how many you could fit. (Read more about this bookshelf and see its reviews here: White 83.4 Inch Tall Wood Bookcase.
Lately, Instagram has been showing me pictures of bookcases, probably because I was doing online searches for rolling bookcase ladders. Though I’m not currently in the market for a bookcase, I checked this one out. I like the shorter length shelves and the staggered placement of the shelves. Usually, with shorter-length shelves like this, you don’t run into the bowing issue.
These shelves come in four colors: White, Black, Green, and Oak. This green would work great in my office back in Georgia. I have a reading chair in that room that’s green and white, and the green is very close to this color. The photo below shows how two of these bookcases would look, side-by-side. I love how these look! This bookcase has great reviews, but be sure to read those if you are thinking of purchasing one of these bookcases. You’ll find this bookcase available here: Wood Bookcase, Available in 4 Colors: White, Black, Green, and Oak.
Have you purchased any bookcases recently that worked well and didn’t sag under the weight of heavy, hardback books? If you have any resources for great, wooden bookcases, please share!
Worked in a library with shelving specifically designed for holding lots & lots of books. The shelves would begin to sag. When rearranging and moving books, the adjustable shelves were flipped so the sag became an upward arch and then evolve into a straight shelf. Adjustable shelves that can be flipped along with shorter shelf length may control the shelf from sagging.
I wish the shelves on the Billy Bookcase could be flipped, but they have grooves in them on one side that the little supports fit into, so unfortunately, they will only go on the supports one way.
Susan,
I’m in metro Atlanta and may be interested in buying your Billy bookcases from you.
Hi Kimberly,
I had one other person express interest in those. I’m happy to just give them away, I don’t plan on selling them.
Once I’m back in Georgia, which may not be for a while, I’ll pull back up the comments of those who asked about them and can let you know.
No worries. I’m not in a rush. Thank you for the update.
We have had that sagging issue in the past. The units were made of MDF which is real wood chips glued together to make lumber (if that makes sense). I guess they can call it real wood because it technically is, but humidity in the room(s) where these are placed as well as the weight put on it contributes to the sag. We have a beautiful TV console in the man cave that started sagging due to the weight of the super large TV on it. My husband cut down real 2X4s and placed them at the sagging points (like books on a bookshelf) for extra support. He sanded and painted the 2X4s to match the color of the table. You’re right Susan, the smaller width bookcases made of MDF don’t seem to sag as much as the wider ones. It’s a shame that furniture isn’t cheap, but is cheaply made. 🙁
Yeah, MDF definitely comes in different qualities. For example, the MDF shelves I buy in Home Depot and have cut down to the size needed to fit in my dish cabinets in the garage, is much denser. You can look at the raw edge and see how much more dense the wood is, and those shelves don’t sag like the thinner, less dense shelves that came with the cabinets. I’m glad you found a solution for your TV console…that’s awesome!
Beautiful photos!
Wendy
Many, many years ago I ran across the following information for shelving weight loads and have never again seen similar information. I’m glad to share it with you.
Shelving Weight Loads
From: Taunton’s Shelves, Cabinets and Bookcases book
Thickness Length
of Material 24” 30” 36”
Red Oak 3/4 inches 49 lbs. 21 lbs. 9 lbs.
1 inch 116 lbs. 47 lbs. 23 lbs.
Poplar (Not recommended)
Eastern White Pine (Not recommended)
Fir Plywood 32 lbs. 13 lbs. 6 lbs.
Fir Plywood with 2” edging 96 lbs. 39 lbs. 18 lbs.
MDF 9 lbs. 4 lbs. 2 lbs.
MDF with 2” edging 73 lbs. 30 lbs. 14 lbs.
Estimated Weights
Hardcover Books, sized 11” x 9” 20 lb. per foot
Magazines, sized 11” x 9” 42 lbs. per foot
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that, Linda!
Susan, I love the look of those green bookshelves! Everything about them – the shorter width and staggered shelves, the pretty green color. Very nice and they would look very pretty in your Georgia office, if you do decide to replace the Billys. All the options you showed were nice, but those jumped out at me. They did merchandise them very nicely, with all the white books and tchotchkes.